Article storing and delivering apparatus



June 19, 1962 A. RUTKOVSKY ETAL 3,039,614

ARTICLE swoamc AND DELIVERING APPARATUS Filed May 17. 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 1 T a- 1 i w 51 VIII/IA 5 5 48 L2 24 '1 I 48 Lk/ 45 M 4% n.if" 58 5 58 2 56 I 40 I. 57- I 31 INVENTORS A rroelvey June 19, 1962 A.RUTKOVSKY ETAL 3,039,614

ARTICLE STORING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS I N V EN TORS Awwm fl/rr'rorsKY54 ,Pur ovsky A rrowvsv United States Patent Ofiice 3,039,614 PatentedJune 19, 1962 3,039,614 ARTICLE STORING AND DELIVERING APPARATUS AbrahamRutkovsky and Sam Rutkovsky, Brooklyn,

N.Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Small Business Administration,Washington, D.C.

Filed May 17, 1960, Ser. No. 29,762 2 Claims. (Cl. 2111.5)

This invention relates to article storing and delivering apparatus ofthe type which includes an endless conveyor rack for storing anddelivering garments, shirts or other processed articles where it isnecessary to have quick and easy identification and selection of thearticle. Heretofore, in apparatus of the type indicated, the conveyorrack for the garment was provided with a series of horizontally spacedtrolleys which were mounted for movement on an endless rail. The railwas supported by frame members which were secured to the upper edge ofthe rail and extended along the straight portions thereof but the curvedcircular end portions of the rail were not provided with any framemembers. Accordingly, if a persons hand or other object were placed onthe curved ends of the rail during the operation of the conveyor rack,the wheels of the trolleys would push the hand or object against theexposed end of the frame member so that the hand or object would becaught between the trolley and the end of the frame member. Since theconveyor rack was movable in both directions each exposed end of theframe member at each end of the rail presented a constant source ofdanger and potential injury.

The main object of the present invention is to obviate the deficienciesindicated above in article storing and delivering apparatus andotherwise to improve the safety, operation and appearance of suchapparatus.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of this inventionwill be fully understood from the following description considered inconnection with the accompanying illustrative drawings of the presentlypreferred embodiment of this invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one end of an article storing anddelivering apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3, on a largerscale; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the article storing anddelivering apparatus comprises a horizontal endless stationary rail 12which is made preferably from a hollow tube and includes straight runportions 14 laterally spaced from each other and circular connecting endportions 16. Disposed above the rail and continuous therewith throughoutthe length thereof is a peripheral continuous frame member 18 conformingin contour to rail 12 and which is constituted by an angle iron having avertical web 20 and a horizontal flange 22. The frame member is securedto rail 12 by a series of horizontally spaced welds 24 at the lower endof web 20, but it will be understood that the frame member may besecured to the rail by other means. A pair of longitudinally spacedcross-members 26 underlie the flanges 22 of the straight portions 14 ofthe frame member and are secured to said flanges by welding or by othersuitable connections. A pair of floor supported stanchions 28 aredisposed laterally inwardly of rail 12 and underlie crossmembers 26 sothat the rail is supported above the floor F.

An endless conveyor rack 30 for carrying the articles is suspended belowrail 12 and is mounted for horizontal movement along the length of therail. More particularly, conveyor rack 39 comprises a plurality of rackmembers or links 32 disposed in end-to-end relation and pivotallyconnected to each other by hinge connections 34. Said hinge connectionscomprise the bifurcated end 36 of one link and the tongue end 38 of theadjacent link which is disposed Within the bifurcated end of said onelink. Pivot pins 40 are inserted through vertically aligned holes inends 36 and 38 to complete the hinge connection between adjacent links.Each link includes horizontally spaced vertically extending dividingmembers 42 which form spaces to receive the hangers H of the garments G,as shown in FIG. 1.

A trolley yoke 44 is pivotally mounted on the upper end of each pin 40and is provided with upstanding laterally spaced arms 46 in straddlingrelation with rail 12. The arms terminate in angular bearing portions 48which carry axle pins 50 upon which rotatable trolley rollers 52 aremounted. The trolley rollers are disposed in angular relation to rail 12and ride upon opposite sides of the top surface of the rail, instraddling relation with web 20 of the frame member 18, so that conveyorrack 38 is suspended from said rail and is adapted to travel along thelength thereof.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that during the movement of theconveyor rack and the trolley rollers 52 along the length of rail 12, apersons hand may no longer be caught between the exposed ends of theframe member and the moving trolley rollers because said exposed endshave been eliminated by continuing the frame member at the end portions16 of the rail, whereby a continuous frame member is provided which iscoextensive with the rail along the length thereof and conforms incontour to the rail. In addition, by providing the frame members at theends of the rail a more pleasing appearance has been obtained for theapparatus.

The means for driving the conveyor rack for movement upon and aroundrail 12 comprises a sprocket 54 which is disposed in concentric relationto the semicircular end portions 16 of the rail. In this regard it willbe noted that only one sprocket is provided and no follower sprocket hasbeen found to be needed for the other end of the conveyor rack 30. Thelinks 32 of the conveyor rack are rigid members and very littleclearance is provided between the pivoted connections of the links sothat the conveyor rack remains taut without the necessity of a followersprocket. Sprocket 54 is provided with teeth 56 spaced along thecircumference of the sprocket and the length of the spaces between theteeth is equal to the distance between the pivot pins 40. The pivot pinsare provided with rotatable sleeves 58 which are engaged by the teeth 56of the sprocket to drive the conveyor rack. The sprocket is driven by amotor 60 and a speed reduction unit 62 which are mounted on a supportingplate 64 secured to flanges 22 of frame member 18, as best shown in FIG.4. The motor is mounted above supporting plate 64 while the gearreduction unit is mounted below said plate and belt 66 constitutes thedrive between the motor and the gear reduction unit. Suitable switchmeans (not shown) are provided for operating motor 60 which is of thereversible type so that the conveyor rack may be driven in oppositedirections, as desired.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of ourinvention, it will be understood that various changes may be madetherein without departing from the underlying idea and principles of theinvention within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Article storing and delivering apparatus, comprising a stationaryendless rail, a power driven endless articlesupporting rack, means forsuspending said rack from said rail for movement below said railcomprising a series of longitudinally spaced support means having upperparts engaging the upper surface of said rail for movement along saidrail and having lower parts extending below said rail and connected tosaid rack for carrying said rack in suspended condition below said rail,a frame comprising transverse members spaced from each otherlongitudinally of said rail, and an endless frame member having parallelupper and lower edges coextensive in length with said rail and extendinglongitudinally thereof for supporting said rail, said endless framemember being connected to said transverse members at the opposite endsof said transverse members and to said rail at said upper surfacethereof and extending upwardly from said upper surface to saidtransverse members, said upper parts of said rack supporting means beingpositioned adjacent said frame member to permit movement of said upperparts on said rail and the resulting movement of said rack below saidrail, said endless frame member being sufiiciently imperforate toprovide safety means to prevent the projection of an object or a personshand between said upper parts of said rack suspending means and saidtransverse frame members.

2. Article storing and delivering apparatus, comprising a stationaryendless rail, a power driven endless articlesupporting rack having aseries of rigid links extending longitudinally of said rail inend-to-end relation, means for suspending said rack from said rail formovement below said rail comprising a series of longitudinally spacedsupport means each having a pair of laterally spaced trolley wheelsengaging laterally spaced portions of the upper surface of said rail formovement along said rail, means operatively connected to each of saidpairs of trolley wheels and extending downwardly therefrom below saidrail and being pivotally connected to said rack at adjacent ends ofadjacent links for carrying said rack in suspended condition below saidrail, a frame comprising transverse members spaced from each otherlongitudinally of said rail, and an endless frame member having parallelupper and lower edges coextensive in length with said rail and extendinglongitudinally thereof for supporting said rail, said endless framemember being connected to said transverse members at the opposite endsof said transverse members and to said rail at said upper surfacethereof between said laterally spaced trolley wheels and extendingupwardly from said upper surface to said transverse members to permitsaid movement of said trolley wheels on said rail and the resultingmovement of said rack below said rail, said endless frame member beingsufficiently imperforate to provide safety means to prevent theprojection of an object or a persons hand between said trolley wheelsand said transverse frame members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS565,305 Shanklin Aug. 4, 1896 2,163,888 Nelles June 27, 1939 2,899,072Weiss Aug. 11, 1959

